Written Presentation of Dr. Robert Martin New Mexico Tribal College - - PDF document

Written Presentation of Dr. Robert Martin New Mexico Tribal College Consortium Fiscal Year 2021 State of New Mexico Legislative Priorities Before the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee Santa Fe, New Mexico December 11, 2019 INTR O D U C T ION

Good Afternoon Mr. Chair, Madam Vice Chair, and Members of the Legislative Finance

• Committee. Thank you for providing the New Mexico Tribal College Consortium an
• pportunity to present before you. I am representing the New Mexico Tribal College

Consortium, which includes four tribal colleges located in New Mexico. Diné College is the first tribally chartered and operated college and operates as a liberal arts college. The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) is Congressionally--‐chartered with a focus on the creative arts. The Navajo Technical University (NTU) is a higher education institution focusing on STEM degrees and vocational education programs. The Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) is operated by the Bureau of Indian Education and concentrates

• n vocational, technical and liberal arts

Thank you for the support we have received from the State of New Mexico for capital projects, dual credit programs, and most recently, access to the New Mexico Legislative Lottery Scholarship Program. Affording students at New Mexico Tribal colleges the

• pportunity to access Lottery Scholarship funds is a game-changer. All four of the state’s

Tribal colleges are profoundly grateful for this positive development. The following are the consortium priorities as well as individual tribal college capital outlay funding requests.

Tribal College Consortium Written Testimony New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee December 11, 2019 2

NEW M E X I C O T R I B AL C O LLEGE CON S O RTIUM P RIO RITIE S

• 1. High School Dual Credit Reimbursement Funding

The tribal colleges currently have nearly 1,000 students enrolled in their high school dual credit programs and have agreements with more than 25 school districts. We are requesting $300,000 in recurring funding for the Tribal College High School Dual Credit Reimbursement Program, which is only $36,100 above the $263,900 received by the three partic ipating tribal colleges in recurring dual credit reimbursement funding in FY20. This level of funding will be greatly appreciated but continues to fall short in addressing the increasing high school dual credit enrollments at each of the tribal colleges and the costs associated with the programs. It is well documented that American Indian students the lowest high school graduation and participation rates in higher education of any ethnic group in New Mexico and the United

• States. Since a large proportion of Native Americans are first-generation college students,

the opportunity to earn college credits in high school has a huge impact on increasing matriculation to higher education institutions and promoting college success by improving retention, persistence and graduation rates. For example, during the upcoming Spring 2020 semester, IAIA is offering 21 courses at 12 high school sites (Albuquerque Public Schools, Academy Technology & Classics, Bernalillo High School, Walatowa Charter High School, Native American Community Academy, New Mexico School for the Arts, Rio Rancho Public Schools, Santa Fe Indian School, Shiprock High School, Tierra Encantada Charter High School, Santa Fe Public Schools, and Mescalero Apache High School). We have a total of 16 agreements through

• ur Dual Credit Program, including Espanola Valley High School; Pojoaque Valley High

School; Cuba High School and Zuni High School. Accordingly, we anticipate enrollments will continue to increase for Spring 2020. Indigenous Studies and Native Language courses are the most requested courses through our Dual Credit program. We also are developing a Dual Credit Policy/Procedure manual to meet the New Mexico State Dual Credit requirements to allow for a pathway for high school students to earn college credit

Tribal College Consortium Written Testimony New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee December 11, 2019 3

that will be applied toward a certificate or degree.

• 2. Capital Project Funding Requests Recommended by NMHED

Institute of American Indian Arts

IAIA requests $1,500,000 to plan, design, renovate, construct and equip the IAIA Museum collections area and Academic building to accommodate establishing a Native Research Center for Contemporary Arts on the IAIA campus. The research center would advance scholarship by consolidating resources and programs to more efficiently provide researcher access to IAIA Archives, the museum collection and the Artist-in-Residence

• program. This project requires the relocation of the IAIA archives to the IAIA Museum

collections area to facilitate scholarly research at the Native Research Center. This move would displace the Museum Studies department, which will be relocated to a newly constructed addition to the Academic building.

The Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute

SIPI requests $1,000,000 to correct deficiencies and improve campus electrical distribution in accordance with recommendations made in the 2014 SIPI Master Plan. The project will ensure the college has the electrical capacity to increase square footage, while also permitting the replacement of the core uninterruptable power supply, installation of dedicated air conditioning, improvement of cabling management infrastructure, upgrading

• f campus-wide lighting, and installation of an emergency phone kiosk system on the

campus.

Navajo Technical University

NTU requests $1,250,000 to replace the roof on the Science and Trades buildings located

• n the NTU campus. Both of the buildings have serious leakage problems that creates

problems in conducting classes and protecting expensive lab instrumentation for programs such as Chemical Engineering and Physics as well as equipment for the Electrical Trades

• r Automotive Technology programs during extreme weather events.

Tribal College Consortium Written Testimony New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee December 11, 2019 4

Diné College

Diné College requests $2,000,000 to plan, design, and construct a business center for horticulture and tribal agriculture at the campus demonstration farm located at the college’s Shiprock campus in San Juan county. Diné College previously received $400,000 in capital

• utlay funds in FY19 and $280,000 from United State Department of Agriculture for

planning and design. The mission of the Agri-Hub Business facility will be to promote agriculture-based entrepreneurship and encourage healthy eating habits by reintroducing students and the community to modern practices in small-scale agriculture production.

CONCLUSION

Thank you for providing time for the Consortium to present our priorities for the upcoming legislative session. We also express gratitude to Dr. Kate O’Neill, Cabinet Secretary for the Higher Education Department, for her support and assistance of the tribal colleges. Through her leadership, we are participating in the Department’s Capital Projects Hearings, Articulation and Transfer and Common Course Numbering Committees, developmental education reforms, and the State-wide Strategic Plan. Again, thank you for your support. Each tribal college extends a standing invitation to visit our campuses. Representatives from the tribal colleges are available to answer any of your questions.